AB1787-HPR A REAL-LIFE OF EXPERT PATIENT WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS. AN EVALUATION OF THE PATIENT ACTIVATION MEASURE PAM-13
Authors: F. Rodriguez, G. S. Rodríguez-Vargas, A. Rojas-Villarraga, P. Santos-Moreno
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2023)

<h3>Background</h3> In 2021, a group of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients were certified as an expert patients. These were trained for the care and management of their disease. During their training, they answered the Patient Activation Measure PAM-13 questionnaire, which measures people's knowledge, skills and confidence in self-managing their health and medical care. <h3>Objectives</h3> The aim of this study is to know the activation and empowerment levels of the patients in their daily life and in their exercise as expert patients in RA, determining the self-management they have of their disease and the perspective they have developed towards their health and towards their health care team. <h3>Methods</h3> A group of expert patients with a diagnosis of RA were included. A sociodemographic characterization was carried out and variables such as age in years, marital status, educational level and support networks, among others, were measured. Patients filled out the PAM-13 questionnaire. This tool contains some phrases that people use to talk about their health. Each sentence contains response options that include: "strongly agree", "agree", "disagree" and "strongly disagree". This exercise seeks to find out what patients think about aspects related to the care of their health condition and medical care. Descriptive statistics were done and the responses of the first two options were totalized ("strongly agree" and "agree"). <h3>Results</h3> A total of 91 patients were evaluated with the PAM-13 tool. General sociodemographic and clinical characteristics are shown in table 1. With respect to the responses of the 13 variables of the PAM-13 questionnaire, the patients state [n(%)] that they have developed a high level of awareness in the care management of their disease [83 (91)], they have developed a high therapeutic adherence [83 (91)], understand that lifestyles are essential to avoid complications [83 (91)], adopted an effective and clear communication language with their medical team [82 (90)], developed self-care lifestyles [80 (88)], understand the importance of using prescribed medications [80 (88)], developed habits oriented towards a healthy and active life [78 (85)], understand the nature and symptoms of their disease [78 (85)], are aware that they are the main co-managers of their condition [78 (85)], frequently assist their medical team and use emergency services [79 (87)], act in crisis situations [80 (88)), follow instructions of their medical team [73 (80)] and make shared decisions as [65 (71)] (see Figure 1). <h3>Conclusion</h3> In general, expert RA patients are proactive with their health and have developed strong self-management skills evaluated through PAM-13. The use of these tools is important to assess the role of the patient in their treatment. This allows generating strategies that increase the commitment of patients during their therapy. <h3>REFERENCES:</h3> NIL. <h3>Acknowledgements:</h3> NIL. <h3>Disclosure of Interests</h3> Fernando Rodriguez: None declared, Gabriel-Santiago Rodríguez-Vargas: None declared, Adriana Rojas-Villarraga: None declared, Pedro Santos-Moreno Speakers bureau: Abbvie, Abbott, Biopas-UCB, Bristol, Janssen, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Grant/research support from: Abbvie, Abbott, Biopas-UCB, Bristol, Janssen, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi.